


Unraveling

by nhasablog



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Bonding, Drinking, Drinking & Talking, Fluff, Gen, I cannot believe that is a tag but I will tag it anyway, Male Bonding, So many tags, Tickling, ok I'm done, pike is the best dad even though he's not a dad, there's this one tag that is like parent pike but it would feel wrong to use it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-11-16 03:35:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11245494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nhasablog/pseuds/nhasablog
Summary: He could still recall how his brain had insisted thatthis kid is meant for more than whatever sort of life he’s currently living, despite the way Jim had interacted with him after Pike had tried to turn the bloody lump on the floor back to a human being. Despite how defensive and not quite open he was being.(Or, Pike starts spending more time with Jim (and Bones), and the more he gets to know him the more intrigued he becomes.)





	Unraveling

**Author's Note:**

> This is sort of inspired by the WONDERFUL fic [Cpt C. Pike and C/ J.T. Kirk’s guide to unexpected Co-Habitation](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6400789/chapters/14655385) by InsaneSociopath on AO3, though not necessarily plotwise. I just really loved the way they wrote Pike and Jim’s relationship and I don’t think I will ever be able to write for them without thinking of that fic. Go read it because it’s so so good.

Despite what Jim said, Pike knew him better than he thought. Had learned how to read him from the get go. Granted it had all been a process of uncovering layer after layer until he could see right through the kid with just a glance, like a child learning how to read or count who would eventually realize that to get better you needed to practice. That was how Pike felt when it came to Jim Kirk.

He probably did it subconsciously, but Jim didn’t make the process easy for him, which was part of the challenge. Pike had always liked a good old challenge.

The first handful of times he’d found himself in the presence of Jim, he’d felt as if there was a lot more to him than he was presenting, and therefore he’d gotten curious. Don’t judge him. Anyone who was able to see through the fact that Jim was putting up a facade would get curious. He realized not everyone would be curious enough to seek out the answers of what lied beyond this facade, but Pike was stubborn if he was anything.

He could still recall how his brain had insisted that _this kid is meant for more than whatever sort of life he’s currently living_ , despite the way Jim had interacted with him after Pike had tried to turn the bloody lump on the floor back to a human being. Despite how defensive and not quite open he was being. The first few times Pike had talked to him he’d known Jim had been holding back, and that was okay. He wouldn’t expect anyone, let alone Jim Kirk, to trust him immediately.

He quickly realized that the kid still held back even after he _did_ start to trust him, but fortunately Pike learned to read the signs as soon as he was aware of their existence.

Pike had left his afternoon meeting all but clawing his way out of the office, allowing himself a moment of childish pettiness when he threw the building a glare as he walked out. It had lasted way longer than it needed to, and the Friday afternoon was turning into evening, and while Pike didn’t mind the darkness slowly washing over them he did mind the fact that they had deprived him of _at least_ a couple of hours of freedom, and he knew he was barely getting paid for his overtime.

He ignored the fact that he should probably shower and get changed or at least eat something, and instead steered his steps toward his usual bar instantly. He needed something before he would go insane, and he knew he would only find that something there.

And apparently he would also find Jim Kirk.

They didn’t spot each other immediately, because in here they looked like any other guy who needed a drink after a hard week, but Pike was still wearing his work clothes, which probably eventually caught Jim’s attention, and Pike was rather good at noticing when he was being watched, so he only needed to turn his head to catch the kid’s eye.

Pike knew he didn’t necessarily need to join Jim’s table. Knew he could simply send him a nod and something resembling a smile and Jim would be content, but he found himself walking toward the kid anyway, plopping down in front of him as if this was a common thing. “Where’s your doctor?”

“He’s on his way. They’re overusing him at the lab and he’s too eager to protest.”

“Proves he’s a good doctor.”

“I guess, but as his roommate and best friend I won’t stop protesting.”

They cheered, they drank, they sat in silence and drank again. Pike could tell their silence wasn’t awkward by just a glance at Jim. He seemed too comfortable to be anything but. Pike reckoned this wasn’t his first round.

“I really don’t want to be _that_ guy and ask you about school, but I’m genuinely curious.”

Jim’s lips twitched, and he leaned forward as if to share a grand secret. “It’s wonderful.”

“You’re not having trouble with any classes?”

“More like the opposite,” a new voice said, and they were joined by Leonard McCoy.

Pike raised an eyebrow as Jim muttered, “Bones,” which he guessed was a nickname.

“What? It’s true.” McCoy turned toward Pike. “The kid’s too clever for some of the classes he’s forced to take. Sometimes he’s humble about it and sometimes he will never let anyone forget.”

“Only because that professor is an asshole,” Jim said under his breath, probably hoping Pike wouldn’t catch that.

Pike did catch that of course, but he decided to let it slide. “I had no idea, Kirk. Have you talked to anyone so that you could get transferred to some more advanced classes?”

Jim fixed him with a look he couldn’t entirely interpret. “I tried, sir, but I lost that battle and don’t really want to go through it again.”

Pike frowned. “I’m going to have a talk with them and get back to you. No point in you taking classes that don’t challenge you.” He leaned back in his chair and raised his glass. “To graduating in three years.”

Jim let out a laugh, and Pike could’ve sworn he seemed a little bashful. “To challenges,” he said, lifting his own glass.

McCoy joined them with a, “To weekends and sleeping in,” and they clinked their glasses together and spilled beer on the table and drank their beverages happily.

That was the first of their outings together, but certainly not the last.

* * *

 

Pike wasn’t entirely sure why Jim Kirk was curled up on his couch when he walked into his living room on a Saturday morning many weeks later, but he was, and Pike didn’t know what to do about it.

He could tell easily that McCoy wasn’t there and had never been there, and when his head would stop pounding later he would remember that McCoy hadn’t been able to join them the previous night due to something work related and in his drunken state Pike had felt like letting Jim walk home alone in his even worse drunken state would’ve resulted in disaster. Apparently Pike couldn’t have just dropped him off at his dorm and then gone home. Oh no. His past selves felt the need to bring him home with him.

Pike would remember all that later, but for now he just blinked confusedly at Jim’s sleeping form before shrugging it off and walking into the kitchen. He needed a double dose of water, aspirins, and greasy food. If he was feeling like death Jim was probably a space zombie.

Jim’s head peeked into the kitchen about twenty minutes later, his hair sticking up in every direction imaginable. He was holding the now empty glass, and if Pike hadn’t felt so awful himself he might’ve laughed at his bleary expression. “Slept well?”

“How did I end up here?” Jim asked, his morning voice lower than his usual one.

“No idea. Breakfast?”

“Please.”

Jim ate as if he’d never seen food before, and something about it made Pike feel as if it wasn’t all about his hangover. When he thought of it Jim always devoured his food quickly, as if he was afraid someone would snatch it out of his hands. Maybe he should look into that when he wasn’t feeling like crawling back to bed and never leaving.

“Have you informed your doctor you’re here?”

Jim swallowed his mouthful and said, “I did once I realized _where_ I was. I don’t think Bones would appreciate a frantic message first thing in the morning.”

Pike could definitely see McCoy panicking, and the fact that he cared so much about Jim warmed his heart in a way he would never admit. “He probably freaked out when he realized you weren’t home.”

“Apparently I had messaged him last night already, though it’s a miracle he could decipher whatever the hell it was I wrote.”

“I think he speaks drunken Jim fluently by now.”

“Most likely.”

They grinned at each other and kept eating, Jim wiping his plate clean significantly faster than Pike and asking to use his bathroom once he was done.

“The first door on your right. If you need to puke do so in the bowl.”

Jim rolled his eyes and disappeared, leaving Pike to finish his breakfast and contemplate Jim Kirk in peace. He could read the kid like a book, but there were still chapters he hadn’t reached yet, and while he knew it would be a journey filled with paragraphs he wouldn’t understand and pages he would have to reread he looked forward to the challenge. He only hoped Jim wouldn’t close the book entirely in his face before he got to the end.

* * *

 

He wasn’t sure why Jim was drunk during the majority of their interactions, and maybe that should’ve alarmed him, but he was too intoxicated himself to be able to think straight. They left the bar, Pike walking a bit behind Jim and McCoy who had their arms wrapped around each other, partly so that Jim wouldn’t fall on his ass. The night was chilly for spring, though neither of them could really tell with the alcohol in their system. Pike was walking the boys back to the dorms even though he didn’t have to, but the idea of going home to his empty apartment wasn’t appealing in the slightest, and he would take a walk in the dark with Jim and McCoy stumbling in front of him over it gladly right now.

“Hey, Chris,” Jim suddenly called out, attempting to crane his neck to look back at Pike without turning his body. “C’mere.”

Pike found himself on Jim’s other side within seconds, and Jim wrapped his arm over his shoulders happily. “Is this just a ploy to get us to carry you?”

“You know me so well.”

McCoy snorted, and Jim was soon laughing and squirming between them, and it took Pike way too long to realize it was because McCoy was poking at his exposed ribs. “Are you tickling him?”

“Tryin’ to teach him a lesson when it comes to manners.”

Jim was, for some reason, not trying to withdraw his arms, and so they were still wrapped around their shoulders while McCoy’s fingers went to town, and Pike found it absolutely hilarious and was soon laughing along with him.

They ended up on a heap on the ground, and fortunately it was far enough from the Academy that no one witnessed Christopher Pike in his current state, though he would have to make sure to keep Jim and McCoy’s mouths shut. At least McCoy had given him an idea on how to make Jim do whatever he wanted him to do now. He would have to send him a fruit basket or something as a thank you.

* * *

 

Pike was hanging around Jim during other days of the week now, though he wasn’t sure when it had all started. All he knew was that it wasn’t out of the ordinary for Jim and sometimes McCoy to be in his apartment doing whatever (usually homework), and he had to admit that the sober interactions were rather refreshing.

It was just Jim that evening since McCoy was at the lab, though Pike was _wishing_ McCoy was there. Jim had an assignment to finish for one of his advanced classes, and he didn’t seem to be about it that day if all his whining was an indication. He would mock the assignment, huff and puff about how boring it was, and then start wandering around Pike’s apartment, which wasn’t very big to begin with. He passed Pike’s office three times before Pike gave up on getting any work done and joined him in the living room, where all his books and notes were spread out over the coffee table.

“Sit,” he ordered, and Jim, who had been standing by his window, did so with his tail between his legs. “Now get to work. I know it’s not hard for you.”

“It isn’t, and that’s why it’s boring.”

“I cannot put you into even more advanced classes. That’s just not happening, Kirk.”

“I know, but-”

“No buts. Get to work and quit making me have to use my parent voice that I wasn’t even aware I possessed.”

Jim grinned. “Should I start calling you dad?”

“Absolutely not.”

But Pike did a dad-thing anyway, because when Jim started whining again he remembered the thing McCoy had done to him a few weeks ago, and he knew it would be the only effective method right now.

He didn’t pounce or pin the kid down, but he did round the couch to hover above him, his fingers darting out to test the waters that were Jim Kirk’s ticklish spots. He knew Jim would never have let him do this a year ago, but now he just started giggling and squirming where he was sitting as Pike trapped him against the back of the couch with his wiggling fingers. It was just the right reaction for Pike to continue.

“Wait, don’t!”

“You brought this upon yourself, kid,” Pike said with a grin he couldn’t help. “If you could’ve just shut your mouth and done your homework you would’ve probably been done by now.”

Jim only laughed in response, his face all scrunched up as Pike walked his fingers up and down his sides. Truth was he hadn’t actually tickled anyone himself in ages, but boy was he enjoying this

Something told him Jim was enjoying it too.

Pike only had to trail his fingertips over Jim’s sensitive upper body for a few seconds before he was giving up, managing to choke out a “please stop” in the midst of all his laughing. Pike curled his fingers against Jim’s tummy one last time before he backed off, probably looking as smug as he was feeling.

“Homework,” was all he needed to say for Jim to oblige, and when he finished about half an hour later Pike had their dinner ready. He’d made a vow to never let Jim go hungry after that one morning. Jim seemed to appreciate the gesture and devoured his food within minutes.

* * *

 

Jim was on the verge of a breakdown and Pike could tell.

To be fair he was sure only he and McCoy noticed the vague signs, and since McCoy was currently at the lab he took it upon himself to look after the kid, because he knew Jim would never admit to himself just how mentally exhausted he was.

“You know,” he said as he settled down next to him on the couch in his apartment. “This habit of yours to keep your troubles to yourself shows that you’re strong enough to handle a captain position, but it just won’t work in the long run, kiddo. You gotta talk to people.”

Jim faked confusion for only a second before he sighed, his form slumping where he was sitting. “I don’t know how to.”

“Talk to people?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sure McCoy has forced you to do that before.”

“He has, but I never know how to bring stuff up myself.”

“Good thing you’ve got us then.”

A small smile found Jim’s lips at that, but it didn’t entirely reach his eyes. “I’m not sure what’s wrong.”

“I’m sure you’re just exhausted.”

“Could be.”

“And worried.”

“Maybe.”

“It’s okay to feel burned out, Jim.”

Jim didn’t reply. He wasn’t looking at Pike, but Pike knew it wasn’t because he didn’t trust him.

“You wanna watch a movie or something?” Pike asked eventually, because he knew a conversation wasn’t really what Jim needed right now. Pike had reassured him as much as he could without knowing the details, and Jim now needed time to process things before they could sit down and talk for real. McCoy was probably needed for that, too.

“A movie sounds good.”

They watched a rather old one from the 21st century after Jim had confessed that he hadn’t seen it yet, which Pike wanted to rectify immediately. McCoy joined them after his shift, and Pike had to admit that he fell asleep toward the end of the movie, and when he woke up it was to Jim smiling down at him and to the smell of pizza. He’d definitely had worse wakeup calls.

They got to the root of Jim’s troubles during dinner, even though Jim seemed a little reluctant to bring it up again.

“I just-” he started, cutting himself off with a little sigh. “I’m scared, okay? I know I act all cocky most of the time, but everything is starting to terrify me and I feel like I’m not actually good enough to even be here.”

“That’s bull,” McCoy said, voicing Pike’s thoughts.

“That’s how I feel.”

Pike didn’t like how dejected he’d sounded when he’d said that. “Hey, look at me.” Jim did, and it broke Pike’s heart how vulnerable he looked. “You know why you’re here? Because you’re good. You know another reason you’re here? To get better. No one can skip straight to being captain, Jim. Everyone needs the Academy. Even you. But you have to be good in order to get in, and you’re good.”

Jim’s expression hadn’t changed during his little pep talk, but Pike knew he was taking it all in. “Do you think I’ll make a good captain?”

“I think you’ll make a great captain.”

A delighted flush colored Jim’s neck, and he averted his eyes to grin down at the table. “Even if I don’t graduate in three years?”

“Son, with all those advanced classes you’re taking I’d be surprised if you _didn’t_ graduate in three years, but yes, even then.”

“Remind me to call you whenever he gets into those types of moods,” McCoy told him later when Jim was in the bathroom as they were getting ready to leave. “He listens to me all right, but he values your advice more.”

“Anything to help. He shouldn’t have to walk around feeling like that.”

“That’s Jim Kirk to you. I saw through his cocky persona the first week.”

Pike could relate. “He has this habit of letting his guard drop when he thinks no one’s watching.”

“And we’re always watching. Who knows what he would do if we looked away.”

Pike chuckled and McCoy grinned, and Jim looked thoroughly confused when he returned and they refused to let him in on the joke.

“You’re both mean,” he pouted as McCoy opened the door.

“We do it out of love,” Pike replied, knowing Jim probably didn’t realize just how true that was. “See you both at the bar tomorrow evening?”

“I might be late,” McCoy replied.

Jim huffed. “You’re always late.”

“Become a doctor before you talk.”

Pike said goodbye and watched them bicker like a married couple all the way to the elevator, though he was sure it continued all the way back to their dorm. He hadn’t realized just when they had all become friends, but those two were now a part of his life, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](http://nhasablog.tumblr.com)


End file.
